The present invention relates generally to the field of brushless electric motor assemblies, and more particularly, to a low voltage high horsepower motor assembly including a plurality of axially aligned and interconnected stator module sections and a plurality of corresponding rotor modules mounted upon a common shaft, such that the motor can be operated from a single rotor position feedback encoder, wherein each of the individual stator modules includes multiple three phase winding circuits terminating in a plurality of studs located on the exterior of their respective housings for interconnection with a plurality of controllers.
There is fast becoming a need for high horsepower (e.g. 20-200 hp) brushless AC and DC motors powered by low voltage (e.g. 12-96 VDC) batteries, solar cell arrays and other power sources. One major design obstacle in the production of such a motor is the extremely high phase currents required by the motor at low voltages using conventional three phase motor designs. In such conventional designs, currents can easily reach in the thousands of amps depending upon the final voltage selected. In addition to these obstacles, there are also external limitations associated with conventional motor drive controller electronics that make it difficult to design a drive to handle currents of such magnitude.
Accordingly, what is needed is a motor design that makes possible a high power level at low bus voltages that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art designs. Such a motor is desirable for use in marine, automotive and peripheral equipment applications, among others. In particular, the low voltage characteristics of the motor provide enhanced safety in environments, such as in marine applications, where the presence of water is problematic for high voltage motors.